The present invention relates to a printer equipped with a control circuit section of cassette type which is detachably mounted in the printer.
Conventionally, a printer of a type having a control circuit which is adapted to be connected to an external controller such as a host computer, for control of various operating sections of the printer such as a printing mechanism and a printing sheet feeding mechanism, has been known. In the conventional printer of this kind, the control circuit of the printer is connected to the external controller by the use of flexible cord means having opposite ends each fixedly connected with one half portion of an associated connector, and the other half portion of one of the connectors at the side of the printer is securedly mounted on the rear wall of the printer, so as to connect the cord means with the printer at the rear side of the same printer. Further, in view of restrictions in design, the printer has been generally so constructed as to be fed with the printing sheet at the rear side of the printer. Accordingly, in the conventional printer, an annoying operation at the rear side of the printer remote from a user is required for connection and disconnection of the connector, and further, the cord and the thus fed sheet can interfere with each other, and therefore the sheet can be caught, broken or wrinkled, resulting in prevention of smooth supply of the sheet.
Furthermore, in the conventional printer, since the operating sections and the control circuit are disposed on substantially the same level in the direction of the printer, there occur various disadvantages. For instance, the printer becomes large in size, and complicated long wiring is required for connection between the control circuit and various component parts of the operating sections such as a printing head driving motor, a sheet feeding motor, various sensors, etc., to increase an amount of work in wiring.